SPOKANE, Wash — Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, spewing ash, rock and hot gasses into the air.
It was the deadliest volcano in U.S. history, killing 57 people. The eruption happened at 8:32 a.m. and ash blew into the Spokane area by noon.
KREM asked viewers on Facebook and staff members to share their memories of the eruption 40 years later.
It was the most recent time before the coronavirus pandemic where people were asked to wear masks in public.
Some current Spokane residents were living in Olympia during the eruption, while others recall leaving Fairchild Air Force Base before the ash began to fall.
Here are their memories of that day 40 years ago.
Note: Some of these stories have been edited for length or clarity
Kristine Werfelmann
Vantage point: Driving to Fairchild Air Show
My family was on our way to the annual Fairchild Air Show. We were waiting in the car line to get on the air base when they started waving people away. We thought that they were just full and didn’t have more parking, so my Dad decided we would go on a drive instead. As the sky starting getting darker, my Dad finally decided to turn on the radio to see what was happening. That was when we heard that Mount St. Helen’s had erupted and everyone to get home. I think my Dad drove like a madman to get home before the ash would hit. I remember the feeling of eeriness with it being really quiet out. No birds or animal sounds and it was dark like before a storm. Then, it was like watching a snowstorm but being warm. When you stepped into the ash, it was like stepping in talcum powder — soft but stuck to everything and made everything look grey.
Eric Larsen
Age: 11
Vantage point: Olympia
I was 11 when the mountain blew and was living in Olympia. We had an early morning soccer game and heard the explosion as the eruption started. Through the morning, we watched the plume rise up and through the top of the clouds. We found a place where we could see the mountain and with binoculars watched as massive chunks of rock flew away from the volcano. We guessed that each one must at least be the size of a bus for us to see them from 60 miles away. Our plan that day was to go fishing and as a family we were able to drive within about 40 miles of Mount St. Helens. As we canoed on a lake Southeast of Tenino we watched the ash cloud roil and expand and eventually start drifting toward Spokane. We were lucky that day that the winds were blowing east. Over the next few months as the volcano continued to have eruptions, we would sometimes have ash falling on us and other days it would drift to the east. Whenever we had more than a couple inches of ash we would go out and collect jars of the super fine powder.
Tom Cohrs
Vantage point: Spokane
May 18, 1980, my parents were visiting from Indiana. It was my father’s 64th birthday, his second and last visit to Spokane. He would say he received a lot of gifts for his birthdays, but we were the only ones who ever got him a volcano. We were going out to a birthday lunch and we noticed what looked like thunderstorms rolling in from the west. We decided to hurry to the restaurant before the storm hit. Upon entering the restaurant, everyone was talking about the volcano erupting, we didn’t think much about it and decided to eat and hope the “storm” would blow past. After finishing we went outside and it was black as night, you could only see a band of daylight around the horizon. It was time to head for home. As we arrived, the ash began to fall, it was like watching it snow. A lot of cleanup followed. This snow never melted. When my parents were finally able to fly home, I noticed how the paint was sandblasted from the leading edges of the airplane wings. The volcano was with us all summer, but my dad never forgot about it.
John Regniw
Vantage point: Fairchild Air Force Base
My wife, our 11-month-old baby and I were out at Fairchild Air Force Base to see the SR71. They pushed into a hangar, we got to look it over, then they told us to leave. We got home when it was black as night and the ash fell. We had some county health doctor that said on live TV, "If you have to go outside wear a mask and don't breathe."
Sheila Jacobson
Vantage point: North Spokane
Husband and son went to an air show at Fairchild. They returned too soon. The military just all of a sudden made the crowd leave, without explanation. They heard on the radio that the mountain had blown. We lived in North Spokane and it didn't take long for the ash to arrive. Very scary. It got completely dark, and very quiet. I've always been glad we didn't have any animals at that time. I don't know what we would have done with them. Husband shoveled off our roof (wearing a mask) because we were concerned about the weight of the ash. We were told to wash everything off with water, and then told not to do that as the sewer system couldn't handle it.
Sherry Meyers
Vantage point: Coeur d'Alene
It was a beautiful sunny day. We had planted the garden, washed windows and went in to take a nap. Woke up at 4:00 to darkened skies and ash falling like crazy in Coeur d'Alene. No clue what had happened. Definitely a big part of NW history. Cannot believe it has been that long ago. We have a place also on the St. Joe River. Ash blew out of the trees for years and was in the trees we cut down for firewood.
Jim Sjothun
Vantage point: Spokane's South Hill
My wife, son and I had been up on the South Hill checking out yard sales that morning. The skies started to get dark so we thought it was going to rain. I was a police officer and had to work the swing shift and about the time we got home so I could get ready for work, my mom arrived. She had just driven in from Bend, OR and told us about the eruption. I was driving to Medical Lake when the ash started falling. I got about half way up Sunset Hill when WSP stopped me and told me I-90 was closed and to turn around. I explained I was a police officer going to work so that let me continue. What was normally about a 20-minute drive took me about an hour but I got there safely and worked my shift, which was pretty calm considering. When I got home at the end of my shift, my wife met me on the front porch and made me strip before I could come into the house. We had to sell our family car that I drove back and forth to work during this time and it literally died as I coasted into the car lot. We had two patrol cars at that time and had to overhaul both engines, even though we had limited driving in response to emergency calls only. Another one of those times when the Spokane community came together very well. I can remember all of our neighbors getting out and washing down the street with garden hoses to help clean up the ash.
Jean Evans
Vantage point: Spokane's South Hill
I had just finished my first year at the UI and was in Spokane at my grandparents' house on the South Hill. I was supposed to sly out a couple days later to go home for the summer. We first heard about it blowing when we saw the neighbors across the street rushing out to throw blankets and tarps over their cars in case the ash would damage the finish.I did the same for my grandparents' car and then we hunkered inside to watch the ash fall.
Lisa Donohue
Vantage point: In the mountains near Leavenworth
I actually heard it. I was camping with my family a few miles up into the mountains above Leavenworth, where we lived at the time. It sounded like a sonic boom off in the distance, and there was an “ echo” boom right afterwards. We didn’t get back into town for several hours and had no idea what had happened. I found out after my mom went into the store on our way home.
Do you have a memory that you'd like to share? Text us at 509-448-2000 or share it on the KREM 2 Facebook page.